Breeding & Whelping Puppies Q&A

I try and answer every question I receive on dog training. I may often come across a little on the blunt side, (some may call it brash). That is because I consider myself an advocate for dogs and not dog handlers. I am an advocate for common sense dog training and not the latest fad that appears on the horizon. Good dog training is not rocket science. It's common sense.

Can you tell me how long it takes
for my female to have puppies after she is bred?

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

The normal gestation is 62 days,
but there are extenuating circumstances. Semen can live in a female for
up to 5 days after breeding. Which means that a female could get bred
to a male and not get pregnant until 4 or 5 days after the breeding. If
you ask a vet they will refer to their text books and tell you that the
time can vary from 58 to 70 days after a breeding before a female whelps
her litter.

The smartest thing any breeder
can do to improve his stud dogs potency is to switch his stud dog to an
all natural diet. I cannot stress this enough. I will guarantee that commercial
dog food does not supply the dietary supplements for an active stud dog.

Here are the things to add to
your stud dogs diet:

Raw Eggs

Cod Liver Oil

Powdered Kelp

Powdered Alfalfa

Flax Seed Oil - keep refrigerated

Yogurt

Whole Fish

Green Leafy Vegetables

Vitamin C

Vitamin E

Vitamin B

Liver, Brains, Kidneys, Heart

I dont know what most people
charge for stud service or puppies, but my pups are $1500.00 to $2000.00.
A breeder only needs to miss one litter of puppies, because his stud dog
does not produce enough healthy sperm, to make the expense of an all natural
diet sound pretty cheap.

We have just purchased a German
female pup, what I consider a good pedigree. However, we are just getting
started. My husband works with the State Patrol, so he is naturally more
interested in that type of training. Our biggest problem now is do we
get a male pup too, train him and if he turns out good breed them? Or
concentrate on our female then find a stud for her. I guess you can say
we're you 20 some yrs. ago. We really want to do this. We just want to
do it the right way and get started the right way. (By the way our female
is sable). This IS NOT the first German Shepherd we've had. We're starting
over with her. Any comments you have will be appreciated. We also have
had several different opinions on whether the male is to be American or
German. Its quite apparent that we should have a German male. Thanks
for making that clear.

Heath and Melissa

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

Here are the things to consider
(from my perspective and experience):

A breeding program is based
on bitches - not stud dogs. People new to this business often misunderstand
how important this is. The strength of my breeding program is not based
on the fact that I have great stud dogs (which I do have). Its
based on my foster home program and the fact
that I have more nice bitches than any breeder
I know.

Is your bitch a German bloodline
bitch? If not, then don't worry about her being your foundation brood
bitch unless you goal is to only breed pets.

Do not try and raise 2 pups
at the same time. I have written about this on my web site. Its
strongly discouraged. The pups do not get the kind of attention they
need and the end result is ALWAYS POOR.

Buying a male pup with the
hope of it becoming a stud dog is always a big gamble. Any male can
breed but very few males are stud dogs. A stud has to be able to constantly
produce pups that are similar in temperament and type with multiple
bitches. My opinion on what is acceptable for breeding and yours is
probably different, but still I always recommend people start by going
to a local proven outside stud. Do not ship your bitch the first time
she is bred. It almost never works. The stress of shipping seems to
result in too many problems and too few litters.

Here is some advise you
can take to the bank, DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE WHO IS TELLING YOU
TO BUY
AMERICAN BLOODLINES. These people do not understand
temperament, drive and working ability. You will never find a person
with good working dogs offer this advice.

You can buy stud service to
males that you could never dream of owning, the same can not be said
for a bitch. When you do breed, keep females. The only reason to keep
a male is for your husband to work with.

How much should I increase the
amount of food I feed my pregnant bitch?

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

A bitch needs to be fed a good
quality food. Grocery stores do not sell good quality food. If you
are
serious about the health of your bitch and her pups stick with an all
natural raw diet or PREMIUM kibble.

The first 4 weeks of pregnancy
does not require any additional food. After the 4th week the bitch
should
be given 30% to 50% more food. Its not necessary to give additional
vitamins if you are feeding quality food.
During the last few weeks of pregnancy we will feed our females additional
ground muscle meat and organ meat. This is the one time we let our dogs
be "picky" and eat what they want (i.e. extra eggs, liver or cottage
cheese according to what they seem to crave)

I was wondering if you would
explain the term Pink Paper's to me. I have heard several meanings from
different people. I guess this is a dumb question, but I would like to
know what is the significance and importance of having a Pink Papered
dog?

Thanks,
Walt

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

For me personally "pink
papers" have no importance. This is a breed or show rating. It
means that both parents have been "koer Classed level ONE" (breed
surveyed). A dog gets koer classed by going before a judge who watches
him run around a ring to view his (or her) movement, the judge measures
and weighs the dog and then watches the dog do very very limited
handler
protection.

In my opinion the weakness to
the breed survey program is the temperament test is minimal. While the
requirements are very specific and detailed for the physical characteristics
of the dog, they are marginal for the temperament and working ability
of the dog.

In Germany, if one of the parents
of a litter is not breed surveyed the puppies from the litter can not
get pink papers.

I am a firm believer that it
is far more difficult to breed a dog with good temperament and strong
working drive than it is to breed a show dog. The proof of this statement
is the lack of good working dogs Vs the number of show dogs. If breeding
strong working characteristics was an easy thing to accomplish we would
see many more strong working dogs in this country.

My GSD is approximatly 9 months old.
He used to be a little hyper, very active, sometimes aggressive and showed
signs of being very protective. Our vet recommended we have him fixed.
Everything I read told me the same thing. I thought it was the best thing
to do.

Now, I'm not so sure. He seems
to have changed. He lets friends of ours put their hands in his mouth,
he lets other people correct him, he cowers very easily, like we beat
him. I am worried that he will not be protective of my house or me. I
don't want him to be afraid of my friends, I don't want him acting like
they are family. What can I do? I wish I hadn't had him fixed!! What changes
can I expect when I have my female spayed?

Kelly

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

If people are concerned about
a dog that is too aggressive then they should definitely have it neutered
at an early age. This is sound advise. Your e-mail is testimonial to the
dramatic effect that this can have on the personality of the dog.

I also feel that the vast majority
of animals are not breed quality and should never be bred. Nothing
urks
me more than to hear people say that they "just want to have one
litter for their kids" - or worse yet "for their dog." There
is only one reason to have a litter and that is to improve the breed.

The question of when to neuter
a dog can be effected by what the goal is of the person who owns the dog.
If its to be a police service dog or a personal protection dog I
do not recommend neutering the dog until it is 18 to 24 months old. The
dog needs its hormones to mature and develop. If neutering is delayed
until this age the dog can be neutered and it will have "NO EFFECT"
on its working ability or protection work. A personal friend had one of
the toughest police service dogs I have ever seen, this dog was a monorchid
(born with one testicle that never descended). It was neutered at 24 months
of age and worked a full life in a major city. He had many many apprehensions
with bites.

If a dog is neutered at 6 to
12 months it is going to have a dramatic effect on the personality of
the dog. My experience is that these dogs will never do protection work.

I have a wonderful German Shepherd
bitch with excellent working lines (both parents from Germany). She is
2 1/2 yrs. old, has OFAed good, has been bred to a Czech/German male and
has just whelped a litter. I have to say at this time, I purchased your
whelping tape and it definitely came in handy. "Hella" had 17
puppies,16 survived (one had been dead for a while I suspect, and one
had to be rescued). We are new to this region of the states, and our "new"
vet is recommending I "cull" her litter down to 10 although
the pups are all fat and healthy. She believes that no matter how hard
I try to tube feed them, they will "tax" the other pups, and
they in turn will not get enough milk. Is this true? Do I really have
to pick 6 puppies to be destroyed? By the way, Hella is eating a premium
dog food, a whole chicken (minus the skin and bones) and a prenatal vitamin
every day. I'm not sure if what the vet is telling me is correct, and
I'm reluctant to just "pick" 6 pups to go! Since you have always
provided good, solid information on subjects I have needed advice on,
I thought I'd ask you before I spoke to the vet again, which will be on
Monday (I'm still tube feeding goats milk as of now).

If you have the time, I sure
would appreciate a reply, as time, as they say "is of the essence."

Thank you for your time
Teresa

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

Teresa, this is a terrible situation
to be in. In over 150 litters, I have never had that many puppies from
one female. I can not tell you what to do in this matter but I can tell
you a few things to think about to help you make up your own mind.

If you choose to try and save
them all, the first thing that is important is to make sure that all of
the pups get colostrum. The mother will give this over the first day or
two before her normal milk comes in. I tell my kennel people that help
whelp litters that colostrum is "liquid gold." Get as much in
the pups as possible.

The first thing to try is to
get a surrogate mother, even from another breed. See if you can find another
bitch (ask the local vets) that will take these 6 puppies. This is not
an easy task. Even if you find another female, adding 6 strange pups is
very ticklish. Sit with the 2nd bitch for a long long time to make sure
she doesn't kill the new pups or abandon them.

The problem with tubing puppies
is that if this is their only source of nourishment, they will lose their
sucking instinct (at least that is what I have found). To do a good job
of tubing requires a "GRAM SCALE" like I show in my video Whelping
Puppies, (which you already have.) You need to identify the pups you
are working with and chart their weight. I will weigh a pup 3 times a
day. It is impossible to notice a 30 gram increase (or worse a 30 gram
loss in weight).

Initially I am inclined to buy
premixed milk from the vet that is specifically designed for puppies,
rather than goats milk. These come in small containers and cost about
$2.50 each. I save the mixed formula (goats milk, cottage cheese, vanilla
yogurt and boiled eggs that I show how to make in the tape) until the
pups are about 19 to 20 days old. I will start supplementing a large litter
earlier than a normal litter of 5 or 6 pups. When you supplement, do it
3 to 4 times a day. You will know how much to feed by putting food down
and seeing if its all eaten quickly or if there is some left after
10 minutes.

Its difficult to determine
how much to tube. With German Shepherds you can watch the weight gain
of pups not being tubed - you will not be able to match this gain with
tubing - but you can get a feel. I will often start with 10 to 20
CC.
If you do it too much the pup will throw up or get diarrhea. If you are
tubing a pup and it all of a sudden seems to become ill, (lacks spunk
and is lethargic), watch its weight. If it drops 20 grams between feeds
then it may have diarrhea. I will give these pups 3 cc. of Keopectate
and back off of one feeding to let their stomach settle. In the second
week the pups should be able to handle 30 cc per feeding.

A normal sized pup is about
450 grams to 500 grams. We just raised one that had a strong sucking
instinct that
was under 200 grams. That was the smallest I have ever done.

Probably the most important thing
that you can do it to rotate pups on this bitch day and night for the
first 20 days, (this will turn into 20 days from hell). If you do decide
to tube, make sure that these pups are also rotated through with the others.
Its always better if you can maintain some form of a sucking instinct
if at all possible.

Be careful to give the bitch
enough to eat without overfeeding and causing her to get loose stools.
You can get her sick by trying to be too nice to her. Remember to keep
her water bucket absolutely sterile and full of fresh water. Get her plenty
of exercise. These first 3 or 4 days, take her temperature every morning.
Watch for signs of a fever. It helps to get her out for a quick walk 2
times a day every day. This helps her pass any garbage that is left in
her that could start to get infected and cause problems. Many times people
feel that they should leave the bitch alone the day after whelping. This
is wrong. Get her up and going.

I can tell you how I currently
treat very small pups. I will initially tube a pup once or twice. Then
we will put it on the mother 10 to 15 times a day and make sure the other
pups allow it to suck. If its going to live, it must live on its own.
If it dies with this kind of care then there is something wrong that we
had no control over. If a small pup lives and is in a large litter, then
I will assist it with tubing in the second week (in addition to putting
it on mom) because the other pups just muscle it out of the way. I will
take this pup and get it on the goats milk formula sooner than I would
normally do it to get added weight. I do this at the same time I am leaving
it on mom.

This information is designed
to help you make up your own mind on what needs to be done. If you start
to tube a pup and do it for a couple of days you are usually in for the
long haul. Once you have raised puppies from birth to 3 weeks by tubing
you will have second thoughts about doing it again.

The
only 100% sure way to determine if a bitch has had her last pup
is to take her to the vet and have an
x-ray. I have never done this in over 150 litters.

As a breeder gains experience
you will be able to feel your bitches uterus and know if there is a puppy
left inside or not, (at least be reasonably certain that there are none
left). But another way that I like is to keep a stethoscope on hand. They
are not expensive. Some are less than $30.00. Listen to the heart rate
of the puppies before the bitch whelps. She must be kept calm and quiet
when you are doing this. The puppies heart rate is much faster than the
mothers. Place the scope on the belly between the hips of the mother.

As your bitch goes through the
whelping process you can monitor the remaining pups by their heart
beat.
I doubt that you will be able to tell how many are left but if there
are live pups you should be able to hear them inside the mother. Its
important
to keep on top of this and do your monitoring right after the bitch has
a puppy. Don't wait for 2 hours and then wonder if there are any left
inside and listen then. By that time the remaining pup may be stuck in
the birth canal and dead. You would think that the bitch was through
when
in fact she still has a pup left inside her. It's also important to listen
on both sides of the females belly (towards the outside). A bitch
has
2 horns to her uterus. Both horns contain pups. If one horn is empty
and the other still has pups and the bitch is laying with the empty
side up
and that s the side you listen to you may not hear heart beats. I just
had this happen - when the bitch laid on one side you could not hear
anything,
when you listened to the other side you could hear heart beats.

By continuing to monitor for
heart beats right after the birth of every pup, it is unlikely that you
will miss a puppy. Now this does not mean that a large pup will not get
stuck in the canal and die, but at least you will know that its in there.
I let my shepherds go 2 to 2 1/2 hours before I give them a shot of oxitosin.
For a 65 pound shepherd I will give 1 1/2 cc in the back leg muscle up
near the tail.

The bottom line is that listening
for a heart beat and oxytosin are not the final solution to determining
if there are still pups left in you female. But they are tools that may
help.

I used to recommend that a female
should go to the vet if it had gone 2 hours without having a puppy. Over
the years I have given a lot of females ""C-Section ions"
after 3 or 4 hours that probably did not need them. I no longer do this.
If a bitch is not in distress, if she is calm and quiet I will let her
go overnight before I get concerned.

I can remember one female 4 or
5 years ago that I had taken to the vet for x-rays at about 55 days of
pregnancy. We shot an x-ray and I was told that there were 3 pups. Well,
after the first pup was born I waited 4 hours and took her in for a "C-SECTION."
We cut her open and there were NO MORE PUPS. The vet said that what he
thought were pups were probably stools. NOT A GOOD THING TO HAPPEN!! That
was when I quit rushing in for "C-SECTIONS." Since then I have
not had one C-Section and I have not had a problem. I have
even had a couple of females whose last pup was born before midnight and
then not had another pup until after 7 AM - and they were born alive.

Over the years I have become
a fan of the saying "MOTHER NATURE KNOWS BEST." Use your common
sense. If the bitch looks fine, she is probably OK. If she is restless
and stresses, if she is constantly cramping for a long period of time
and you can not see or feel anything (wash your hands or wear sterile
glove for the exam) then consider a visit to the vet.

If you would like to learn how
to whelp a litter I have done an excellent video called Whelping
Puppies.

I have a 16 month old female
GSD (Chelsey). At 5 months it was discovered that she had hip dysplasia,
but had not yet developed arthritis. So, she had corrective surgery (triple
pelvic osteotomy on both hips). The breeder had a warranty on her hips,
but the remedy is to give me another puppy (it isn't necessary for me
to return Chelsey). I am interested in having another GSD, but I am unsure
whether I should accept this free one from this breeder. Chelsey does
have a good pedigree and this particular breeder shows many of his dogs.
In addition, he has been breeding for over ten years and hasn't had many
dogs with hip dysplasia. However, I am still skeptical. Would you advise
me to accept this free puppy from him or should I pay the money and go
with a more widely recognized breeder (such as yourself)? If I end up
with another puppy with hip dysplasia I would not be able to give the
puppy back because I would be too attached to it, so I would again be
forced to pay over $2,000 for the corrective surgery.

There are two obedience problems
that I am having with her. I have taken her to both a beginner and an
intermediate training class and I work with her on a daily basis. The
first problem is with heeling. She will not heel in the proper position.
She always heels slightly in front of me. This doesn't present a severe
problem when I am walking her on a leash, unless I want to make a 90 degree
turn to the left, (then I end up stepping on her). However, I would like
to eventually train her to do off lead heeling and I do not want to begin
that until she is heeling in the proper position on lead. How can I get
her to heel in the proper position?

The second problem is actually
more of a behavioral problem. She is very timid. However, she has gotten
better then she was in the past. When a stranger (or even someone that
she has had infrequent contact with) approaches her, she barks at them
with her hair raised, looking like she's going to kill them. When they
come closer to her she runs away and cowers. I am afraid that she will
become a fear biter. I know that I am not supposed to comfort her because
that will reinforce the behavior. However, I do not know what the appropriate
response is from me when she does this.

Thank you very much for your
time.
Stacie

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

In my opinion, you should not
take another dog from this breeder. Not because of the bad hips but because
of the poor temperament. In our breed, (GSD's), bad hips are going to
happen. I assume that the breeder only breeds dogs with OFA ratings. Assuming
this is the case, thats about all we can ask.

The situation with the poor temperament
comes from the American show bloodlines. When you say that the breeder
shows dogs, I assume (maybe incorrectly) that this is a show breeder.
What you describe in temperament is what is going to happen in a majority
of American bloodline GSD's. They have bred good temperament out of the
lines.

The training question about heeling
is also another issue. You need to look at my video on Basic
Dog Obedience. I discuss these problems in this tape (and a lot more).
There is more information in this tape than there is in a 10 week training
course. Read about it on my web site. The bottom line is that formal heeling
is not used for a normal walk. This is unfair to the dog. When we walk
with our dogs I expect them to walk without pulling on the leash - not
heel in a competition heeling position by my left side. Sounds like you
may be expecting too much. Walks are one thing, competition heeling is
another thing.

There are two terms used by breeders
to signify a particular dog appears in both the fathers and the mothers
pedigree. Line-breeding and inbreeding.

When a dog is line-bred 3-3 on
a dog (for example Grief), this means that Grief appears in the pedigree
of the father and the mother of that particular dog. To get a 3-3 line
breeding, you count the father as "1," the grandfather as "2"
and the great grandfather as number "3." So a 3-3 line breeding
to Grief means that Grief is the great grandfather on the sires side and
the mothers side of a dogs pedigree.

Inbreeding means that a father
is bred to a daughter or a brother is bred to a sister. Inbreeding should
only be attempted by the most experienced breeders. I tried it once and
made the wrong decision on breeding partners.

My female occasionally develops
a temperature a couple days after birth. What can I do for this?

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

I have this same problem occasionally,
until I was reminded that it is important to get your bitches up and
moving
after they have had babies. Take them for several short walks each day.
It only needs to be a couple of hundred yards. This is enough to get
their
system working to help expel any afterbirth that is still inside. I
always give the bitch a shot of "pit" after the last pup.
This combined with the walks have really helped me. I used to think
that they
were so tired out and concerned about being away from their babies that
they needed to be left alone with their pups. I was 100% wrong.

In fact, if your bitch seems
like she is getting close to the day she will whelp, I always get them
out and take them for walks. Often a nice long walk is enough to trigger
the female to go into labor. Then as she progresses through the birthing
process and seems to come to an impasse (where she still has puppies but
it has been awhile since her last pup) I will get them out of the box
and take them out in the front yard, they won't stay long but often times
I can gently massage their belly and that combined with the walking helps
the next pup come. Don't take your eyes off of her. You may think she
is pooping and in fact its another baby that is dropped in the yard.

I used to think the solution
to these temperatures was antibiotics. The fact is that if we can be proactive
and eliminate the cause of the fever before it happens then everyone is
a winner.

I have a two year old female
German shepherd. The first time I did a breeding she did not get pregnant,
I had a vaginal smear done on her, that said to breed any day. I also
had a sperm count done on the male, even though he has thrown puppies
before. I just bred her again, this time I bred her everyday for five
days. I also had two smears done, the first one saying in two days, the
second one done after breeding her on what would of been the second day
it read the same. They still did not pin point when her time was.They
did not draw blood but took it from her heat. My question is what is going
on? What are the chances that she can't have puppies? Also is there anyway
to tell if she is pregnant other then waiting 4 weeks? Also why didn't
she get pregnant the first time?

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

You did the right thing this
second breeding - nothing is laid in cement on this but most bitches are
bred on the 10th through the 13th day of their season. The best thing
to do is to breed the bitch every day that she will breed. The thing that
you have going for you is that the bitch seems to have stood and got bred
naturally. This means she was receptive to the male.

The best indication (in my opinion)
of the right time to breed is when the male has an interest to do it and
when the female will allow it. Everything else is only and educated guess
from humans (who often don't know whats going on).

Not a lot of people in this
country (none that I am aware of) have the experience breeding German
Shepherds)
that I do. It's approaching 180 litters over 20 years. You can believe
me when I say that this is a very difficult hobby. The difficulty
in dealing
with bitches like this is really the main reason I will not breed my
stud dogs to outside bitches. It's too time consuming. More than half
the time
the female gets here and the time is not right or the female is environmental
problems and is traumatized by being away from her family and home
and
will not breed.

For bitches like this the solution
is artificial insemination. But you need to be sure of the cycle. Slide
help, the males nose helps but they say (and I have not had much luck
with) progesterone testing. I will say the test kits that are sold DO
NOT WORK. These people can talk until they are blue in the face and its
a crock of bull. For the average small breeder - they do not work.

From the sound of it you will
have puppies this time. If you do not then your female probably has some
type of problem. At that point I would have her checked by a vert. Check
her thyroid levels (if they are off she will not have puppies) check to
see if she has some kind of a vaginal infection. There are several other
things you vet can discuss with you about this.

I have a question that isn't
on your whelping puppy tape. I have a Bitch German Shepherd that isnt
letting the puppy nurse. I tried putting the puppy on a Rott, but the
Rott tried to bite the head off. The bitch Rott hates the other dog, though.
I want to save the pup but how? We got a tube for tube feeding. I'm going
to take the pup and the mom to a vet tomorrow. But what should I do? She
isn't a good mother at all. This was her first puppy. Should I get her
spade, and keep her as a pet? Me and this dog have a good partnership.

Luke

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

You should not breed this dog
again. There is something missing in a dogs head that will not nurse
her
own puppy. So spay the bitch.

Depending on how old the pup
is, you can try tube feeding it. Pups need colostrum from their own
mother
which comes in the first 48 hours. make
the mother lay there while you hold the pup and let
it suck. If you have to muzzle her, do it, but the pup should be kept
in a box with a heating pad at 90 degrees. Put the pup on the mom
9 or
10 times a day.

The important thing is to sit
and hold the pup so it will suck. If you can't get this done its
going to die.

I was wondering how you get all
these dogs. My GSD is an American Bred. From what I have read you do not
particularly like that breed but Tonka is beautiful; he's not quite two,
he still has about eight months to go, anyway I paid $150.00 for him and
would like to breed him, but I can't seem to find the right female for
him. Tonka is a very smart dog, it doesn't take him long to pick up on
things. It's very hard to keep him focused because he's always looking
for a new adventure. Some people say he looks mean well if you look into
his eyes he does but he isn't mean. I just need to know how to breed him,
how to tell a good female from a bad female, and how to do dog shows,
(if he can handle them.)

Thanks for your help,
Lindsay

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

I can give you some very good
advise, your dog is not breeding quality. If you are sincerely interested
in this breed you will not allow him to breed. You have a pet and nothing
more. There are enough pets in this world. If you don't believe me
go
down to your local dog pound and look at the dogs that they have to put
to sleep.

My friend is a New York City Narcotics Detective. He
wanted me me to ask you a breeding question. He recently bred his bitch.
She had four puppies and when she finished delivering them she destroyed
them. Should he breed this bitch again? What causes this to happen?

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

There is something screwy in the bitchs mind
that makes her do this, or he made a big mistake in where he allowed her
to have the pups. They need to be in a place they feel 100% secure in.
It must be quiet and warm. It had to have been in a secure whelping box.

If it was noisy and she did not feel comfortable with
the location it would have made her nervous.

If he did everything right and she did this then her
mind is screwed and she should not be bred.

I have a question that you may be able to answer for
me. I have an outstanding, proven GSD, imported from the Czech Republic.
She is three and a half, and has had one litter of outstanding puppies.

I am trying to breed her to another outstanding, proven
GSD, imported from Germany, that belongs to our Police Department here.
He has sired one great litter of puppies, and is seven years old.

The big question that I have is when do I breed them?
She seemed to start coming into heat a couple of weeks ago. That's when
my neutered male started paying attention to her and trying to mount her.

That is when we started getting the two desired partners
together about every other day. The bitch started bleeding eight days
ago. Two days ago they "tied" for approximately 25 minutes.

Yesterday he showed no interest in her at all, as a
matter of fact he ignored her. She is discharging a pale pink, almost
clear fluid now. What makes me wonder about this is the fact that she
was so aggressive towards him that I soft muzzled her, to keep her from
injuring him.

This will be my third litter, and I guess this one means
quite a bit to me. I went through a lot of trouble to get the department's
approval, and will test and raise one of the puppies (If I have any worthy),
following the RCMP Puppy Program Guidelines. I would take any advice,
criticism, or anything else you have for me.

Dave

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

You should have been taking her to an experienced vet
to do slides. Normally bitches are bred on the 11th day, normally inexperienced
handlers miss the first 3 days of a dog bleeding because the bitches clean
themselves up so well. They need to be checked the first thing in the
morning with a kleenex for any signs of blood to determine the first day.

The best test when to breed is the stud dog I bred 2
females last week and only took one tie. You have to believe the male.

Java's pups are 3 weeks old and it seems to me that
she is losing her milk. Pups are crying. We forced her to lay down a couple
times last night but after a couple of minutes she doesnt want to
feed them anymore. What should we do? Ella boiled some milk last night
and gave them a little. We don't want to screw up anything. Please help
if you can. I thought that I knew more about it than I really do.

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

Clip the pups toe nails - they may be too sharp and
many bitches will not like being poked. It may also be that she is sick
of their teeth biting her nipples.

Make sure the bitch is getting plenty of good food.
I often increase the amount of food she is getting. I will also offer
her cans of chicken boulion or beef bullion. The more liquids she drinks
the more milk she will make

There
has to be a reason why she is drying up. You need to figure this out.
I assume you have increased her food as the litter grows. Go to Wal
Mart and buy turkey burger (its not expensive) and give her an additional
pound of that along with her normal feeding every day.

You have to be a a little aware of the fact that too
much food will cause loose stool.

Do not feed puppies cows milk - cows milk will give
the pup the diarrhea.

I have an excellent article on a puppy formula that
produces 11 calories per CC of formula. It's easy to make. - I have
started 3 week old puppies on this. I also make sure that the pups have
water down so the option is there for them to try and drink. Many breeders
screw up and don't offer water soon enough. If you touch their snout to
the water some will figure out how to drink. Do
the same
for the formula.

I have started supplementing litters as early as 3
weeks. These were usually big litters and they needed more food than
the
mother could supply.

I ran across your web site when I was
researching information on shepherds.

I have a male shepherd who is a
few years old, he's a big baby, and loveable as hell. He's registered.
My female shepherd was orphaned, we don't really know too much about her
background.

She (Sadie) looks identical to our male, except smaller of
course. She inadvertently became pregnant from our male, we were not planning
on this breeding, but decided to go ahead with letting her have the litter
anyway.

I had Sadie about 3-4 years, she's always been real skittish,
distant from most people, except she seems to trust women. She does not
want to have anything to do with children and has snarled at a few who
have approached her. She loves me to death and trusts me totally, and
I'm not sure how this bonding occurred so naturally, but it did.

Anyway,
our two Shepherds, male and female, and my 6 year old West Highland Terrier
(whom I've bred twice) always "ran the yard" together. Every
now and then my Westie and Sadie butted heads, but I didn't think too
much of it.

About 2 weeks prior to Sadie's whelping, I came home late
one night only to have my neighbor lady come out pre-warn me that Sadie
killed my Westie; I guess she tore into her quite viciously for about
a half-hour and from what the neighbor had said, it appeared she was trying
to "eat" her. She was afraid to enter my fenced yard to brake
it up.

I was heartbroken--mainly because I had my Westie for such a long
time and loved her dearly, but also because I had bonded with Sadie in
the last few years and I knew Sadie loves me and trusts only me.

My first
gut reaction was to have Sadie put to sleep, but I knew I would have to
wait until she had her pups. The reason I began to research the internet
was because after she had the pups (litter of 10), I found out that she
was eating the pups. She has 4 healthy pups left that she seems to be
half-ass caring for. They're 3 weeks old now. Someone told me that they
heard of dogs eating their young if they were undesirable or not healthy,
or if the female felt that they could not feed all of them.

I never heard
of such a thing, but wondered if it didn't have something to do with the
fact that she killed my Westie and got a taste of her blood. Can you help
me understand this? Is this normal or is she just a killer? I still may
have her put down afterwards, but I'm feeling guilty about that also.
We have a neighborhood of young children and that worries me too.

Pat

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

Pat,

This is a disturbing situation.

I wonder if the female killing the sheltie had anything to do with killing her babies. It could be maternal aggression but the pups were not born and I don't know the time frame between the killing and the litter.

Females can kill their babies for several reasons.

1- If a female does not have a safe quiet secluded den they can get nervous and kill their babies. When that happens the problem is with the owner not providing what the dog perceives is a safe place to have babies.

2- A female can also kill her pups if too many people are coming into the whelping area when the litter if first born. Some can get nervous and kill the pups. This is also more of an owner problem than a dog problem.

3- There is also the possibility of the female being mentally unstable.

The issue of the sheltie being killed could very easily be a rank-pack structure problem. I don't know the temperament of this dog or the sheltie. But "female on female" aggression is a common problem. Female dog fights are the most vicious.

I will guarantee you that this dog had gave off signals that there were problems on the horizon - you just missed those signals.

We never leave adult females together when we are gone unless we 110% know there is no sign of potential problems. And we always error on the side of safety. Doing otherwise asks for problems, but then you found this out.

You would have been better advised to use dog crates and keep these dogs separated.

You would have been better advised to establish pack structure and control the environment that your dogs are allowed to live it.

The fact is you allowed an accidental breeding. You were not paying attention. Then you allowed your female to kill the other female - you were not paying attention. The moral of this story is to educate yourself to pack structure and then change the way you live with the dog.

On the
11th and 13th day I mated her to a wonderful pure breed rottweiler male.
The problem is that two weeks after, (that is on the 24th day which was
last night), I thought that her season was over, and I let her out in
with my other dogs.

Unfortunately, my german shepherd cross mated with
her. Please help me out. Will my female have puppies for both males
or just for the Rottweiler considering that the german shepherd mated
her
on her 24th day of her season. (NB: I am accurate about when she started
her heat cycle. I checked it three times a day before she started so
there
could be no mistake about when she started).

Is she still fertile on
her 24th day considering that she has been mated two weeks before.
If it is
possible for her to have both type of puppies, will they be born
together considering the two weeks difference in mating? how will I be
able to
distinguish which is pure breed or not?

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

This is a hard one.

I have heard of bitches seasons going this long and
then getting them bred, but usually they will not breed earlier
in the season. They
normally only breed when they are fertile.

The odds are this bitch will have ALL rots or ALL hal
breeds. It would be impossible for a bitch to
have puppies that are a result of breeding's that were 2 weeks apart.
That simply can not happen.

So count your days and see when this litter is born.
The normal time for a litter is 57 to 72 days - with the most common
being
62 days. So if the bitch whelps 62 days after breeding the Rot then they
are rots. If its 62 days after the shepherd the will be shepherd-rot
puppies.

Mr. Frawley I have several of your training videos and
I must say that I have gained so much from them. I think that even though
I am new to the sport I am ready to look into a puppy that I can develop
into a competition dog.

The biggest problem that I run into though is there
are many breeders that say that SV papers represent the best way to
get
a good puppy prospect, others say that the papers don't mean squat. I
have heard that they are sent to Germany and just stamped there and
that's
all that there is to it. I called your kennels and was told that your
pups are only AKC registered not "Pink Papered." Please help
me. I am so interested in your stock.

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

This pink paper thing has been around since the beginning
of time. It's a non- issue as far as I am concerned.

In Germany dogs whose parents have both been Koer Classes
get pink papers. It makes not difference if both parents could never
be
working dogs or could never produce a personal protection dog much less
a police service dog. They still get koerd and they still get pink papered.

If you are interested in show dogs then this is an issue
you need to consider. If you are interested in working dogs it's a joke.
Dogs from Belgium, Holland, USA or Chech can not get pink papers because
the breed organizations in these countries do not use that system so they
don't have pink papers. Yet every one of these countries has produced
some great working dogs.(mostly from old German working bloodlines)

So if a breeders goal is produce show dogs under the
German System they can talk "pink papers" but if they are talking
working lines then they are new to the game and are pulling at straws
to find ways to sell their dogs.

Another question I get asked is about the "VA"
and "V" ratings before dogs names in a pedigree. The "V"
rating means the dog is a German show champion. When a conformation show
takes place in Germany the judge will pick all the dogs who he feels
that
fall into the top category and give them a "V" show rating.
They must only get this rating one time to display it on their pedigree.
The top dog in that show gets a "V1" the second place dog is
"V2" etc.

Every year the Germans have their Sieger show. This
is the largest conformation breed show of the year. The dog that wins
this show is called the Sieger. He receives a show rating of "VA1"
There can be as many as 12 VA dogs at the Sieger show. So all of these
dogs can have "VA" before their name. The sieger show is the
only place a dog may obtain a "VA" rating for his pedigree.

If people are interested in purchasing a working dog
and see "VA" titles in the pedigrees of the parents, this should
throw up a red flag. "VA" dogs are not working dogs, there has
not been a "VA" dog in the past 25 years that is known to produce
working dogs.

My Bitch had a litter of 10 puppies' 6 weeks ago. She
was in labor for quite some time and delivery took over 12 hours. She
was very exhausted and was running a moderate temperature for the first
couple of days after the liter was born.

When the pups were 3 days old I discovered that mom
didn't have much milk. I immediately began feeding all 10 puppies and
took her to the vet to get a progesterone shot. This helped a little bit,
but she never had very much milk. I gave the puppies 100% of their feedings,
but Mom still let them suck several times a day for the first 4 weeks.
After that she no longer wanted them to suck.

My puppies are now 6 weeks old and I have noticed that
my bitch has started bleeding, it is very dark in color and more like
a clot than like the bleeding from a heat. Is this because there was no
rigorous sucking from the pups and her uterus did not contract enough,
or is this something that I should be taking her to the vet for?

Thank You,
Toni

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

This discharge has nothing to do with puppies sucking.
I would have given the bitch an oxytocin shot and not a progesterone
shot
to get the milk flowing. I am also not sure that I would breed this bitch
again, but then you have probably come to the same conclusion if you
did
as much bottle feeling or tubing as you must have. Monitor your bitches
temp. Make sure the discharge does not have a foul smell. If the bitch
develops a temp a vet should see her.

I have male rot that has been mated the first time for
4 months ago. Most of the females around are in their period now and he
is a real pain in training. First pass in the bite work he's really domestic
and frustrated, can take a bite here and there. Can see and can't hear,
and takes himself totally out, and he has good condition. The second pass
after a break he's calmer and are back in function. Shall I go on as usual
or pull him down with more obedience training?

Kind Regards,
Helena

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

This is a drive issue and also an obedience issue.

The females distract the dog - this goes with breeding.
Now he must learn to mind when females are in season.

Take cotton swabs and keep wiping the blood whenever
you can from the females when they are in season. Keep them in a zip lock
bag in your freezer. When you do obedience training. Lay them on the floor
and allow him to smell them - then make him work with a prong collar -
he MUST do obedience around bitches.

When he is going to breed a bitch - always put the prong
on and do obedience before you allow him to breed. The reward for good
work is breeding. They learn very quickly. This is better than hot dog
training.

Have you got experience with a bitch rejecting her pup?
My Hungarian import (Double Doc v d Teufelsbruk) bitch came to me pregnant
and I had the singleton pup delivered by c-section. The mother is extremely
dog aggressive, and now wants to eat this newborn. She will tolerate nursing
her if I hold the mothers head down, and force her to nurse. If left unattended,
the mother will kill the baby I am sure.

HELP!

Can you give me resources for bottle feeding (I have
tube fed and bottled litters, but am uncomfortable with the prevalence
or rumored prevalence of cataracts in bottle fed youngsters)?

Dee

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

Get the bottle-feeding information from your vet. They
have the formula that you will need to use, but this is a tremendous amount
of work. Force the bitch to allow the pups to feed before you go to bottle-feeding.
Do it as many as 10 times a day for several days if you have to.

If the bitch does kill her pup, I would recommend not
bred this bitch again. There is something seriously wrong with a bitch
that does not accept her own pups (even if they are taken "C"
section). A bitch that does this has a serious mental problem.

I have bred over 230 litters of dogs and do not tolerate
bitches that are not good mothers. Sorry if this is not what you wanted
to hear but I have a lot of experience in this field and know what I
am talking about. If you want to build a breeding program it must start
with
good bitches. If you start with something less than that, you are only
kidding yourself and your customers.

I have a litter of ten puppies that was born two weeks
ago today. Nine of them are doing great. The tenth one is confusing me.
She appears healthy. Her coat looks good, she appears to be nursing fine
(without the other puppies). The other pups push her away when they want
to eat. I have not seen any sign of the milk coming back up after she
has nursed. She does not have cleft palate. The problem she is not gaining
weight as quickly as the others. They are all gaining 1 1/2 - 3 oz per
day-she is gaining every day but it is an average of .4-.6 oz per day.
I have just started weighing her two times per day and I am letting her
nurse by herself three times a day and I am sitting with them to make
sure she is feeding-hopefully this helps. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?

Thank you,
Karen

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

You are doing everything you should be doing. There
may be a medical problem that you have no idea about. This falls under
the category of doing everything you can, but then nature takes its course.

I talked to Randy and we decided to drop you a line.
Both puppies are doing great, already showing great drive and intensity
for their work. I have been tracking Willow and she is a natural!!
Great ball drive and already out at the end of the leash like a little
Tasmanian devil when she watches bite work.

On another note, could you briefly describe how you
set up your litters? She was so easy to housebreak and everyone who has
gotten a puppy from you has said the same. I am expecting a litter in
July and would love to set them up so my puppy buyers could experience
this. I bred my SchH 1 bitch to Joan Harris's male (Isar vom Leerburg
SchH 3). Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

I am really picky on a clean kennel. I go overboard
to try and keep it clean, so the pups never really learn to be dirty.
From the day they come out of the whelping box they go into a whelping
room with newspapers. I put the newspapers on the floor in one counter,
and the other corner I put blankets down for them to lay on. They naturally
go to the paper after a day or so.

Then when they go outside they go on flats for 1 week,
the flooring is a plastic floor with holes (it's for pig farmers dont
ask me where, I bought it too long ago). These flats have their own dog
houses with straw, so again the pups are never in their own waste it falls
through the flats.

After a week they are then on the ground and the dog
houses always has fresh straw so they naturally sleep in a clean environment
and learn to do their business either on paper or at least not where they
sleep.

I am concerned about one of my breeding females. She
was in heat the first of last month and the stud dog wasn't able to tie
except for one time. This is a 4 yr old maiden bitch. After two weeks
went by this bitch attacked my other bitches pups killing two of them.
She has been with this other bitches pups (last yr and this yr) before
without a problem. I had just went in the house to get the phone. When
I returned two were dead. I know how stupid this was to let her be with
the other bitch. The pups were 8 weeks. I fell guilty like hell and learned
a valuable lesson with the price of two pups. I usually allowed a playtime
with the dogs and pups and like I said never had a problem. Then after
about 4 weeks this bitch who had killed the pups starting becoming listless
and off food. It wasn't until a couple of days ago that I noticed a vaginal
discharge. It isn't clear either but blood tinged and off white. It does
have a slight odor, but it is not terrible. There isn't a fever. She has
lost weight and looks bad. I am sure it is an infection of some kind just
concerned about Pyometra. Now my question is this: Have you ever had a
pregnant bitch with Pyometra? I am calling the vet in the morning but
I am concerned about this vet going crazy on tests. I am treating her
with Fluids 350ml BID and Complexion 250mg TID until I get her to the
vet. She won't eat anything except a little hamburger and rice. She is
not drinking like crazy or going to the bathroom anymore than usual. And
there is no vomiting or diarrhea. Please let me know what you think. I
am planning to have this bitch spayed.

Although I am more concerned with the bitches health
than the pups. The pups will also be sold as Pets with limited reg and
spayed. But I am willing to spay this bitch pregnant or not if it is what
I need to do!

Thanks,
Deborah

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

Take the dog to the vet. You already screwed up once
by allowing a female to be with another bitch's litter. If you continue
with your current course of action with this bitch she could die. Trying
to find the answers to this kind of a medical problem by asking questions
on the internet is gambling with your dog's life!

How do I tell if my bitch is preg? Have had her to the
vet, he say's he does not think she is, but could be just to early too
tell. They mated the 10th, 15th and 18th of April 2000. The male is only
6 months, so we were surprised to say the least the mating took place.
The Vet also said that it is possible she could be carrying only 1 to
2 pups, that would not be so easy to detect. We have noticed sluggishness
and seems to us her ribs are spreading. How can we tell, other than with
time? I don't want to over feed her, but if she is possible. I want to
increase her food.

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

I don't know what you are doing breeding a 6 month old
male. That's crazy - I am not sure the AKC will register dogs from a breeding
this young. In my opinion they should not.

Ed, I wanted to ask you a question about bitches that
cycle short I Imported a Czech bitch and she had been breed on 9/17/00
it did not take. two days ago she started a cycle, I have seen this once
before and that bitch never produced any pups. The bitch is four and
had
not produced before, I'm very alarmed by the four-month cycle, thanks
for any input you may have.

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

Have a vaginal culture done and see if she has any
infections. If she doesn't have any - put her on cheque-drops (To stop
her from going
into season) for 6 months. Then when she goes off the drops breed her
on the very next season. Bitches need to be out of season for a minimum
of 3 months before they can ovulate. This is one way to be sure it was
long enough.

We just had a litter of 12 labs and have been looking
up on the Internet about feeding one of them specifically. We came across
your article and thought you might have some input.

One of the puppies was born w/a cleft palate. The veterinarian
suggested tube feeding - 1 ml every three hours. Another veterinarian
suggested that might not be enough - we called because we felt she wasn't
gaining any weight and was even more listless than when she was born.
We do not have a scale to weigh her, but estimated her weight at 4 oz
- might be even smaller. We have upped the amount to 1 oz daily or 1-1/4
ml every two hours.

Do you have any suggestions or input?

Anything you can give us would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.

Melinda

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

Put this dog to sleep. In my opinion your vet did you
a dis-service in recommending that you try and save this dog.

I'd like to talk an interesting issue. I think you are
some of the best guys who has enough experience with breeding to give
an opinion about this. One of my friends from LPSDHF-NW was one of responsible
to check the GSD from the former DDR. His conclusion was very interesting:
"the dogs were so corrupt as the system." He explained that
the handlers had to know the famous "red book" instead of know
about dogs.

Today we have a fever about this kind of bloodlines,
mainly about Tchecoslovakian. I had the opportunity to watch the BSP in
Darmstadt with G. Heumann (LPS training Director) and Werner Rapien (LPS
instructor chief). Heumann went to the trial only to see the "Schutzdienst"
and try to find some really good GSD to do Police work. He found 10 really
good dogs in an entire 120 competitors. In his opinion this is not enough
to "save" the breed. I haven't seen young GSD in NW. I had the
opportunity to watch real police work in Hekilinghausen (Ruhr Valley)
against Russian Mafia. There was a 7-year-old GSD bitch which are a PSP
and RSH.

They considered their bitch one of the last good one.
This bitch is really good. So, what do you think about this kind of bloodline
(DDR)? NW consider the Bavarian bloodline a very good one, but they don't
sell their good dogs. I saw many policeman from USA team with GSD with
many kind of bone troubles. Many of them were changing to Mali. What do
you think about this?

Well, it's midnight here. I have time to write so many
"Bullshits" He! He! He! Please, try to analyze this and give
some experience from yourself.

Best regards from ROQ

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

The Internet is interesting - it allows one to talk
to people all over The world. I have some problems understanding what
you are trying to say.

I do agree that most of the dogs at the Bundessieger
are not breeding animals. This from a breeders standpoint. I was there in 1999
and puked. I do not agree with your German friends. They think it takes
the German system to save the GSD world. They are wrong.

There are people like myself - who have bred 250 litters
of working bloodline dogs in the past 25 years that are not trying to
produce Bundessiger winners. I think people like myself will save this
breed. I Do not breed for the Bundessiger, I do not breed for the SV,
I breed for the integrity of working dogs. I breed to produce police service
dogs and everything else is a byproduct.

My German friends also agree with you. They consider
the German way to breed GSD a fake. Last year, I sent you some of the
phases of the LPS breed temperament test. They are considered "crazy"
by the SV.

Gunter Bonke (LPS breeding program chief) reinforce
what you are trying to say. GSD will be save by breeders who are interested
in create real working dogs, not Bundesieger. But, in his opinion there
are only about 20 good breeders in German which isn't enough for him.
He consider that a country like Germany needed , at least, 100 breeders
with your standing point.

Are there supplements that you would recommend giving
a bitch that you want to breed or have bred?

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

This should start with a good natural diet. Get your
dog on god healthy food. If you have a question on what I mean by this
- refer to the article I wrote on preparing your own dog food. I would
also recommend giving your future brood bitch folic acid. It has been
proven that folic acid can help prevent birth defects in humans. There
has been some studies that it also helps in dogs. I would recommend
contacts
one of the homeopathic web sites and ordering it from them.

Once the dog has been bred I would recommend raspberry
leaves as a supplement with their food. It is felt that this helps in
the birthing process and milk production.

What was your opinion of the
German Shepherd that was in Westminster last night (2-13-01)?

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

The name of this dog was Champion
Mt. Maples Bewitched at White Oak.

During the judging of the herding
group, the announcer said that this bitch was found tied to a tree.
In
my humble opinion there was probably a very good reason for this!
Give me a break, do you think that someone is going to take a really
nice dog and tie it to a tree and leave it someplace?
The people who left that dog knew exactly what they were unloading.

This animal was scared senseless,
did anyone other than me see the fear in her eyes? My house cat
has better nerves and temperament than that dog does. In fact my cat
would have probably liked being in the ring.

In addition the dog is missing
a molar, you could see the hole where the tooth should have been when
the dog was gaiting.

Now I understand that the AKC
allows animals to become champions when they have one missing tooth -
but isnt it a little stupid to allow a dog to represent the breed
at Westminster with a missing tooth? On the other hand maybe that dog
was the best the German Shepherd show people had to offer - that would
not surprise me.

What I think is a shame is that
every one of these GSDs that are AKC breed champions (or AKC show
dogs) are all looking for the exit door because they think the boogie-man
is right behind them, while most of the hunting breeds and even many of
the herding breeds have animals that look like they have stable temperaments
and are comfortable in the ring. Could the problem be with the German
Shepherd Dog Club of America and the crap dogs they propagate?

If anyone wants to know why these
show dogs cannot be police service dogs or do sport Schutzhund work, they
only need look into the eyes of that dog in the ring at Westminster last
night.

I have a breeding question. I have 2 German shepherds
that I have bred one litter already. They are beautiful dogs with great
Sc. lines and good hips. My question is about the male. The bitch is in
season and I have been putting them together. He hops on and goes to town,
but he never gets it in. This has gone on for days. I have attempted to
help him but he shuts down if I get involved. Is it normal? Do some dogs
just not breed some times? Or is he just bad at it? I appreciate your
time and comments!

Maureen B

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

It takes a male dog 5 or 6 females to be considered
a stud dog - this in fact could be 10 to 15 actual ties (breedings).

Many dogs have problems, many dogs have problems when
the owners are near. I personally think sex drive in a stud dog is as
important as working drive. I DO NOT like a dog that is sensitive about
the handler being near or the handler trying to assist.

If fact if my stud dogs were like this I would not breed
them. They would fall into the category of dogs that I call PETS.

There are time (many times) where I have to help the
male hit the mark. This means holding the females tail out of the way,
actually tilting her vulva up (by using my fingers when I stick my hand
back between her legs) or physically grabbing the males penis and guiding
him into the female. A small amount of KY jelly (the size of a dime on
the lips of the vulva will often make the difference between a male having
success and not getting the tie.

Be sure that you wash your hands really well before
you do any of the above.

Is there a blood test for a female who has been bred
to see if the bitch is pregnant?

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

The best test is an Ultra-Sound. This can be done at
20 days, but at 45 days the vet can tell you the number of pups. my
vet
charges $45.00 for this. My advise is to find a vet who has an Ultra-Sound.
Its worth a hour or twos drive to verify that the bitch is pregnant.

What do you think of V Fero vom Zeutener Himmelreich
and his sons as far as breeding goes?

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

You will not find any Fero blood lines in my kennel.
My personal opinion is that the Fero dogs are not breed worthy. Of course
this is a personal opinion and this will be an unpopular opinion with
all the people that own or breed Fero sons and grandsons.

People can say that Fero was bred to good and bad bitches.
Not all of the puppies from these bad bitches are good enough to breed.
This is a valid argument for most stud dogs. It is a bigger issue when
you have a stud dog that is offered to outside bitches. I dont breed
my males to females I dont own. In the case of Ferro its an
excuse for so many crappy Ferro sons.

The fact is that Fero produces dogs with a lot of drive
but he produces hectic drive. The Fero dogs that I have seen have a lot
of nervous energy. They do not have a genetic full mouth grip and therefore
will pass this hectic grip problem to puppies. A lot of the Fero dogs
have fine bones and narrow heads. They also have weak nerves. Am I the
only one who seems to see that dogs with fine heads and fine bones have
weak nerves? I think not, Bernard Flinks mentioned this fact three weeks
ago at a training seminar that I attended in New Mexico.

I am convinced that as time passes we will see that
Fero is not a long term positive influence on the breed. He is certainly
nothing compared to the old Busecker Schloss dogs that had great nerves
and great grips. A number of years ago I bred one of my best females to
a SchH 3 Fero son. I gave three of the puppies away for free. The litter
was total garbage. This female (a Teikerhook bitch) went on to be bred
4 times to my stud dog (Otis - a Mink son) and produced some of the best
dogs I have ever produced.

So when people say that I am all wet behind the ears
and that I should look at all the competition dogs from Fero I will counter
by saying that we are talking about breeding here and when was the last
time we saw a top competition dog that was also a top stud dog. I cannot
remember one in the past 25 years. From what I have seen top sport dogs
don't produce dogs with the correct strength and drives.

I have a female that is 5 years old. She has had one
litter of two puppies - done with an AI. We try and breed her every season
but she never seems to get to then point of flagging the male and getting
bred. Any ideas?

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

This is exactly the same situation I have seen with
more than one female from my kennel. The first thing that needs to be
done is to verify that the bitch is healthy. This is something that takes
a good vet. Part of the exam needs to be a blood test for thyroid. Low
thyroid is one of the most common problems I have with dogs that have
breeding problems.

My female continued to bleed for a very long time. For
years I got nervous and thought I was missing the breeding. I tried to
do additional AIs (artificial inseminations) - she never got pregnant.
Frustration finally took over and ended up leaving the male with her at
night. I would separate them during the day and put them together at night.
I ended up getting a breeding on the 22 day of the bitch starting to bleed.
So patience paid off.

One thing I always seemed to notice with a lot of females
that are difficult to breed is that they do not seem to swell up enough.
I have gotten in the habit of washing my hands really really good and
then putting a small dab ( the size of a dime) of KY jelly just inside
the vagina. I do not try and get it too far into her - but the lubrication
seems to be the trick to getting a lot of females bred. It has become
a standard practice for me.

With me it turned out that I was getting too impatient.
I finally made up my mind that as long as the bitch bled, I would continue
to try . You know the ship has gone to sea when the female no longer
bleeds and is no longer swollen. But just because the books and vets
say to breed
on the 12 and 13 day of bleeding does not mean that this is always the
case. In a lot of case these rules do not hold true.

Ed, I've been doing research about work line GS dogs.
I am really impressed with the work that you've done and your time dedicated
to GSD's/training. Hopefully you can answer a question of concern to me
about my new german shepherd. I have recently acquired a 1 and a half year
old shepherd from a mix of German and American working lines. The dog
was to be used as a stud since it exemplified excellent physical lines
and temperament as an alpha of it's litter. I ended up getting it neutered.
The few times that I visited the kennel with a friend, the dog was very
social with me (a stranger). The dog grew up with many other dogs, but
was properly separated to prevent pack aggression. When I took the dog
home he bonded with me, but seems to be very scared of everyone else...
even the members of my family. He seems to run away when someone else
tries to pet him as if he was scared or timid. This definitely does not
seem to be the same outgoing, sociable dog that I first met. Do you think
it's an environmental thing and that he'll grow out of it with increased
socialization? Or do you believe, this will be his personality for good?
Like I said, it did not seem at all timid when I first met him. I was
told that a timid shepherd is not a good trait...thx ...ALF

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

I think you have found out why I tell people not to
get involved with mixing American and German lines. Weak genes are weak
genes and you are not going to change them.

Hi there. I visited your site in search of help with
my new pups... one is very small... They were just born on Friday and
I can already see and tell this pup is not doing well...I got some milk
replacer and started bottle feeding. He seems to eat off of his mom but
is much smaller and the big ones muscle him out. We are trying to get
him latched on without the others and as of this morning he looked eager
to eat, but when I got home from work he looked terrible again. The older
kids said that they helped him eat and he suckled for 5 to 10 minutes
at a time. What do I do? Its breaking my heart. If you can reply
before tomorrow it would be much appreciated. I dont think he will
make it to the vet tomorrow.

Mara

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

I have bred over 360 litter in 35 years.

If anything is going to save this pup it is going to
be the mothers milk. Put this pup on the mother 10 to 15 times per
day  make sure it gets milk. There is no replacement for mothers
milk. When you put the pup on the mother  you need to push the other
pups away while this pups sucks.

The bottom line is that there is always the possibility
that a pup has a medical problem that is impossible for us humans to figure
out and nothing that we do will save the poor pup.

Hi; I am interested in using my male for stud service
and we had a Bitch, but she snapped at him every time he would get near her. The first day she was awful. She would let him get just so close and when
he was ready she would turn and snap and he would not do any thing else.
I was wondering if it's my male that needs help or what. He is just 2
years old and it bothers me he did not breed her.

Thank you
Elaine

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

It takes about 4 or 5 breedings for a dog to be considered
a stud dog. There is a lot for them and you to learn. Some females will
not allow a male to be near her until the day she is ready to breed. Other
females will never allow a male near them - in my opinion these females
have a screw loose in their head.

When a male will not breed a standing bitch it should
be neutered. There is something wrong with a male that lacks sex drive.
While this does not seem to be the issue with your male it is an issue
with some. I have only seen it a few times and when I do I realize I am
looking at a pet and not a breed dog.

If your bitch will not stand you need medical help from
a vet who understands breeding (not all do). You need to get vaginal smears
done every day. The vet will tell you when the female should be bred.
I have articles on my web site about this. If the bitch will not stand
then do an AI (artificial breeding - where the vet collects the male and
inseminates the female). If the bitch has a litter and will not stand
the next time she is to be bred - spay her.

According to what I've read, you have whelped many litters
of pups, so I ask you this question: What do you think would happen if
I breed my beautiful tan and black female with a white male? Is it advisable?
Or could some really strange things happen?

Thanks in advance,
Rich

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

The WHTE GSDs is really not a normal GSD. In my opinion it should be a breed onto itself called white shepherds. These animal has been selectively bred for one and only one reason - their color. This has resulted in the working drive having been bred out of the dogs.

Those who point to web site that advertise white GSD's as being Search and Rescue dogs or even claim that they can be sport dogs (I.E. schutzhund) are misleading and not truthful about the limitations of their breed.

The fact is just because someone takes their white dog to a S&R group does not mean their dog can do the work or even that the group is a reputable S&R group. I have written on my web site about "TRACKING THROUGH DRIVE" and pointed out that more than 50% of the S&R groups in this country should not be called S&R groups. They are simply well intentioned people who take their pets out and try to train. They don't understand the work nor do they have correct standards for the dogs they accept for training.

And as far as personal protection goes - well it doesn't happen. I would willingly let any white GSD owner send their dog on me (without any protective equipment on) from 100 yards distance. I will drive any white shepherd from the field.

So if you want a pet there is nothing wrong with this breed. If you want a working dog - look someplace else.

I have a 2 year old Male Shepherd who I would like to
breed to an older female. I believe she is 3. She will not come into heat
until February. We have had both dogs checked out and all is ok. My problem
came tonight. We brought the dogs together to "meet". Well at
first she put her head down to the ground and my male was smelling her.
Then she just started growling and barking at him. I put him back in his
kennel and the owner of the female did the same. What can we do to get
her used to him and the same for him so we can breed them when she comes
into heat? This is the first time I have ever tried to breed a dog. Your
advice is appreciated.

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

You have two choices here.

1-You can just wait until the bitch is in season and
ready to breed. Many bitches can be nasty to all males before they are
ready to breed, but then when they reach this point in their season (usually
somewhere between 7 to 13 days after they start to bleed) they will accept
a male.

2- If you want you can start to get the two used to
each other by taking them for walks  on leash together. This is
only to familiarize them and you should not expect them to play together.
Do not allow the male to have bad manners here.

Hi, I have talked with your kennel a couple of times.
I have a few questions to ask you on the puppies you have available.
I am 90% sure I want a female, however, Im worried that she may
not meet the potential that I am after. I understand that I am responsible
for a great deal of that, but some genetics are better than others. I
am looking for a dog that can achieve not just SchH 3 but a fairly competitive
SchH 3. I know a female can't compete with the males, but I have seen
some females that I would be more than happy to own. So, with that in
mind, do you feel that any of the puppies you have now will meet my requirements,
or do you feel that I should wait until you produce a litter with stronger
genetics? This is a big commitment, once I make my decision I can't go
back. I appreciate you helping me in making my decision. Thank you very
much for taking the time to work with me.

Thanks,
Dan

ANSWERs on Breeding Dogs:

What I think is that the difference in the dogs I see
at the nationals and a great many of the dogs I breed is the handler -
when you finally get to this level (of the dogs that I breed) it comes
down to a handler believing in his dog and then accepting the fact that
no dog is perfect and all of dog training is problem solving of one sort
or another. I sell a lot of dogs that could be at the nationals and never
get there because the handlers do not have the skill to train at that
level or the handlers choose not to work hard enough to get their dogs
to the nationals or the handlers do not live near a helper that is a national
level helper. I always compare this to being a narcotics dog handler.
I did this for 10 years. I tell people that a good drug dog is 75% handler
and 25% dog. The issue is that the dog cannot be 23% it has to be 25%.
But the best drug dog in the country is not going to find as much dope
with a handler who is only at the 25% level.

So I cannot tell you that future breedings are going
to be better genetics.

I am looking for a good bitch to breed to my male GS.
Do you ever use outside studs, after proper qualification, etc.? I am
in Houston at the I-10 and Bunker Hill area. I have a one year old GS
that is close to 120 lbs. and well trained, wonderful disposition, and
very SMART. I just lost a 13 year old dog, from old age, and would like
to find a good bitch of comparable standards to breed with him. Thanks
for your time and consideration.

Dianne

ANSWER on Breeding Dogs:

I appreciate the offer but you do not understand the
breed or the business very well.

A 120 pound GSD is not the standard. I compare it to
a 600 pound quarterback in football. This breed was never meant to be
that big. This dog will be un-coordinated as an adult and die young. People
like myself breed based on bloodlines and there are no bloodlines that
produced 120 pound dogs that are worth breeding.

My advise is to love your dog - you have a nice pet
- not a breedable animal. Get him neutered and enjoy his company.

My rotty just (48 hrs) had her first litter of 8 pups. I have read
that it is unnecessary to have a vet. clip their tails. In other
words, I would
like to perform the procedure. Can you give me information on what
I need to do?

ANSWER:

Yes - take the litter to a vet. At least if you want
them to live. If you have to ask directions on the internet, I don't
think you should be trying this yourself.

I really admire what you do with your dogs. Your a great inspiration
to anyone who loves this breed.

I have several German shepherds and have decided to breed a litter (all my
dogs have passed their health screening; meet the breed standard; have the
correct dispossession and drive; and have exceptional bloodlines).

My problem is that the two dogs I'm trying to breed are both, in lue
of a better term, virgins. My female has been flagging our male for 2
days (days 7 and 8 of her cycle) but he's just not getting the job done.
He humps but doesn't seem as excited as he should be.

Have you ever heard of an inexperience female flagging before she's
at the peak of her cycle? Or does this sound like more of a problem with
my male's drive?

Any suggestions on what I can do get a successful mating?

Thanks,
Sarah

ANSWER:

Yes this can happen. Have a Vet do a vaginal
smear. I have an article that explains what to look for on the slides

A male has to be bred 5 or 6 times before he
figures out what to do. I will sometimes put a tab (the size of a nickel)
KY jelly on the females
vulva – they when he does it her he slides right in.

You may have to have a Vet do an artificial breeding – that’s
a last resort. We do them ALL THE TIME here I have a training DVD on
how to do it. We are also going to be selling the AI kits – should
be on the web site next week.